The Knoxville & New River Railroad
The Knoxville & New River Railroad was a railroad that began at Robbins and ended at Brimstone. The ultimate goal was to build the railroad all the way to Knoxville, although the plan was never realized and the railroad was short-lived.
Precursor to the railroad
The Cincinnati-Southern Railroad was built through Scott County in the 1880s, linking the city of Cincinnati, Ohio — which owned the railroad — to Chattanooga, Tenn. After it was built, new businesses quickly sprang up in Scott County, primarily centered around the extraction of timber and coal. This new business gave rise to short-line railroads that connected to the Southern Railroad, including the Tennessee Railroad from Oneida to Devonia, the O&W Railroad from Oneida to Jamestown, and the Brimstone Railroad from Helenwood to Brimstone.
Before the Brimstone Railroad that was built from Helenwood to Lone Mountain by following Brimstone Creek from New River, timber-cutters saw the need for a railroad to reach the virgin timber on Brimstone Creek.
According to historian H. Clay Smith, one of the engineers involved in the construction of the Cincinnati-Southern — identified only as “Major Woods” — surveyed the terrain from New River to Brimstone Creek as he attempted to find a way to avoid building Tunnel 15 just south of New River. While he didn’t find a way to avoid building the 2,580-foot-long tunnel, he did discover the vast stands of virgin timber on Brimstone Creek and realized it would be relatively easy to build a railroad up the creek. He informed William L. Leake, a Cincinnati lumberman, of his findings. Leake is credited with being the first person to initiate the idea of building a railroad to the head of Brimstone.
Construction
The K&NR was chartered on May 14, 1883 by Abner S. Coriell, Jonathan Robbins, John Hughett, Andrew S. Patterson, M.B. Van Buren, William Kirland, Jacob S. Allen, James S. Negley and James S. Negley Jr. The charter stated that the railroad would go from Robbins “to the summit or divide between the waters of Brimstone Creek and New River, known as the divide between Mill Creek and New River.”
The K&NR was the first railroad chartered in Scott County after the construction of the Cincinnati-Southern.
Only Robbins and Hughett were local residents. The others were outside investors.
Although his name wasn’t mentioned in the charter, historian Michael R. O’Neal wrote that Leake hired a man named Drought to make a survey of the proposed route from Robbins to Brimstone. He began acquiring right-of-way permission from residents at Robbins and along Brimstone Creek, including Joshua Goad, Aaron Goad, Riley Long, William Overton, Alexander Bowling and A.J. Robbins.
The ultimate plan was to build the railroad to the head of Brimstone Creek, then cross the mountains to Clinton in Anderson County, where the railroad would connect with the Knoxville & Ohio Railroad and provide Scott County with a direct link to Knoxville.
The K&NR was constructed as a narrow-gauge railroad, meaning there was a distance of three feet between the rails; the standard was four feet and 8.5 inches. This allowed the railroad to be built through more difficult terrain, but limited the size of trains that could travel it.
The finished railroad
The K&NR was completed by 1885, and a locomotive was placed into service. It was a Porter 0-4-2 that was built in June 1884 by H.K. Porter Company of Pittsburgh, Penn.
According to Poor’s Manual of Railroads in 1889, the K&NR cost $90,000 to build and stretched 13 miles. It was reported as owning one locomotive and 10 freight cars.
An August 12, 1887 edition of the Scott County Call mentions that men named Shaver, Hall and Frisbee were opening another mill on the narrow gauge railroad, “which means a new business on our creek, yet there is room for more, as there seems to be an inexhaustible supply of timber in the mountains of Brimstone.”
Several weeks later, on September 30, 1887, the newspaper wrote: “…commerce in corn and bacon is carried on extensively by means of the narrow gauge railroad and mules, which constitute the only means of communication with the outside world. The Brimstone River is the only stream of importance, and it never gets too low to support the narrow gauge with water to run its engine.”
On April 20, 1888, the newspaper reported, “Much lumber being handled at the depot of the K&NR, being shipped to Cincinnati and Eastern cities. Mr. Coriell, mgr. of the K&NR, gone to Cincinnati on business.”
One edition of the Scott County Call mentions a free excursion train that ran from Robbins to Slick Rock for people interested in attending a prohibition meeting that was being held there.
The route
The exact route of the K&NR is unknown. Because the railroad was a narrow gauge, and light, with little grading done along the route, it did not leave a permanent impact on the land. Most of the traces of it were reclaimed by nature or destroyed by strip mining operations.
However, the historian O’Neal determined that it left the Cincinnati-Southern at Robbins and extended eastward through what is now known as Brickyard Hollow — the site of the large brick factory established by Southern Clay Mfg. Co. several years later. It’s not known how the railroad got from Brickyard Hollow to Indian Fork Creek.
It seems that Leake operated a mill on Black Wolf Creek, which the railroad traveled to before crossing the ridge to Indian Fork Creek. Because it’s known that the railroad crossed the farm of Joshua Goad, which is the modern-day Walker farm where Indian Fork Creek empties into Brimstone Creek, a reasonable assumption is that the railroad followed a route similar to the current county road that crosses the ridge from Black Wolf Creek to Indian Fork Creek. It’s interesting to note that a coal haul road along a portion of Indian Fork Creek south of the Goad/Walker farm (and south of what is known as the Monster Pond at the base of Griffith Mountain) was built especially straight and uniformly, similar to a railroad grade, though there’s no other evidence to suggest the railroad was built through this area.
Once the railroad reached Brimstone Creek at Slick Rock, it likely followed the same route that the Brimstone Railroad followed when it was built in the 1920s. An 1897 Rand-McNally map shows the railroad extending all the way to Cortland, named for the post office that was located near Lone Mountain.
The railroad’s decline
A financial panic struck the United States in 1893, leading to a sharp economic downturn. Scott County Chancery Court Judge Henry R. Gibson put the K&NR up for sale due to unpaid taxes on March 3, 1893.
At some point between 1893 and 1896, the railroad was purchased by Charles E. Heald of New York. By 1898, the railroad had discontinued operations. The rail was removed around that time.
When the Brickyard was built at Robbins some years later, a railroad spur was built to accommodate the brick-making operations there. It’s likely that this rail spur followed the route of the K&NR.